Etta is Ella: Georgina Haig Remembers

By Arianne Robbins (@fringe__forever)

On August 19th 2014, exactly a week after my last visit to the set of “Once Upon A Time” my friends and I returned to continue our adventures. 

All I wanted out of that day was to simply somehow ask Georgina if she had gotten the chance to read my letter that I had given to her last week. So when I found out that she was on set that day, my heart skipped a beat and I was filled with hope that this could actually happen!

After she had finished shooting her very short scene (which we figured was for the promo shoot and not the episode) my group and all of the other fans had been moved adjacent to the diner that they were filming outside of. I was talking to my friends when I realized that our friend Ella was not with us.

I spotted her across the street with Sarah (The Leaf Lady- she distributes leaves on the street of Stevenson and tends to all the foliage on set. She's awesome!) and……. Georgina! That's when I went into autopilot. I had to somehow get myself over there! So, I very calmly pulled my folder out of my bag that contained the picture of Georgina and I from last week. I tucked it under my arm, and wormed my way out from under the barricade separating the fans from the set.

All of the shooting for that portion of the morning had wrapped, so nobody even said a word to me as I calmly strode across main street. At one point, I was walking next to a crew member, and I simply asked him how his day was going, to which he responded that so far it was quite splendid indeed. Five or six strides later, I was outside of the diner, with Georgina’s smiling face looking down at me. I felt like I couldn't breathe.

There were no barricades between us, and only one security guy and Sarah as members of the crew. I stood next to Ella, and soon my friends Erin and Annamaria joined us. 

When Georgina saw me, she said "Ohh hi!" And I said "Do you..." But before I could finish she said "I remember you! I read your letter!" (She sounded so excited and happy you guys! I was close to tears then!)  And I said "Oh! That's great! Did you like it?" And she said "Yes, I did!" And smiled at me. My heart pretty much stopped then, and I stuttered out "I just thought it might.... I don't know.." But she kept talking in her cute little Aussie accent, "You've even got the braid again! Thanks for coming back!" And I said "Yeah, I wear it almost every day because it's the easiest thing for my curly hair. Could you please sign the picture from last time?" And she said "Yeah! Sure! Of course!" And signed it like she normally would, but with an XO too (officially dead now....OMG!) And then I gushed out "Oh my gosh, last time I was just so excited to meet you! Now I'm like, shaking, *laughs* and I mean I didn't like, cry or anything 'till I got home because I've met like Anna and Josh and meeting you was just so great!" And she said "Awww, bless you!" While looking into my eyes and smiling so, so sweetly. And I just smiled at her really big and said "And I was so happy when you came back to Vancouver, because I didn't get to meet you during Fringe, and it meant that I had a second chance! This means so much to me!" And she looked so in awe, like she couldn't believe that someone would ever be such a fan of hers. Then we hugged.  It was amazing, and probably the cutest thing ever! I love Georgina! 

Contact Arianne Robbins on:

twitter: @fringe__forever    tumblr : vancouverswan